Monthly Archives: October 2006

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This is a revised version of Roberts’ 1992 profile of this significant warship which gave its name to a whole new generation of battleships. The book forms part of Conway’s Anatomy Of The Ship series and is split into three sections beginning with an account of her fairly uneventful career. The history is complemented by a very thorough description of her equipment from her guns through to her telephone system. The photographic section begins with building shots followed by images of her in service. The final two thirds of the book are devoted to a comprehensive set of technical drawings

The Conway ‘Anatomy of the Ship’ series has established a high reputation amongst modellers and ship enthusiasts. This edition maintains fully that reputation and follows the established pattern of concise textual history, photographs and high quality drawings. The dust cover includes a 1/500th scale fold-out plan. The wealth of detail is designed to meet the needs of expert model makers. This subject has achieved a cult status. It is one of a small number of vessels from history that is widely recognized around the world beyond the community of naval enthusiasts

This is a revised version of Roberts’ book on the “Mighty Hood” for Conway’s Anatomy Of The Ship series. As you would expect from this series the majority of the book is devoted to a comprehensive set of technical drawings of the ill-fated battlecruiser. In his account of the ship Roberts briefly covers the background to her design, her operational history and provides a description of her systems. The photographic section includes some fascinating shots onboard such as the engine room

The 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar has produced a crop of new books about Nelson, the Battle, the Tactics, the People, and the Ships. Some of these books have been extremely disappointing warmed over retreads of material first published some years before. Happily this is not one of those books. This book is the first in a new series from Conway with the first ten titles already planned. If the other titles reach the same standard, this should be a very valuable series of general maritime and naval histories. There is no new and revolutionary insight, but there is a new and highly readable format that collects together and presents a comprehensive range of information that can be read from cover to cover or scanned at random or referred to by section. The publisher has set out the material using a selection of devices including sidebars and boxed out sections. This presents the information as specific themes which provide a vehicle to include a wider range of information than many histories manage. As a result many of the personalities who were submerged under the dominating story of Nelson stand out as personalities recognized for their vital contribution to events

This is a revised edition of the original hardback from the same author. The Battle of Jutland has long been a controversial subject with both sides claiming victory. As with any battle, it is a collection of contradictory threads, mistakes, missed opportunity, luck, faulty equipment, great bravery, and much more. The 1914-18 War deeply marked Europe and was the natural consequence of a young union of German States wanting to expand its influence and dominance internationally. The British Empire stood in the path of those ambitions. The initiative was with the aggressor as it usually is. Great Britain was its Royal Navy and victory required the denial to the enemy of the field. In that respect, Jutland was a victory for the Royal Navy because the enemy was forced back to port never to venture forth again. German naval tactics had to change and that meant the submarine became their main weapon, eventually forcing the United States into the War on Britain’s side, contributing men and resources to the land battle at the point where it tipped the balance of war against Germany. Jutland can therefore be regarded as both a tactical and strategic victory for the Royal Navy, but a victory that was not without cost. The battle exposed a series of shortcomings, particularly in training and command

This very readable account begins interestingly enough with a brief overview of the war at sea during WWI. From there Van Der Vat covers the inter war years starting with the attempts to prevent another major naval arms race and the ultimate failure of that process in the early 1930s followed by re-armament and the outbreak of WWII. As you would expect the main bulk of the book concentrates on the Atlantic Campaign of WWII covering all of the major events and the tactics used in the course of this crucial campaign and how they helped influence the direction and its ultimate result

A new Annual from Conway with a team of contributors, each well respected in his or her field. This is a beautifully illustrated work, using photographs, drawings and paintings. Each chapter covers an aspect of tactics, personalities, seamanship, administration, exploration, technology, construction, politics and society and more from the Age of Sail with coverage up to the Twentieth Century. There is great variety of topics and a mine of information. This is an ideal and enjoyable book for all those who have an interest in maritime history and a thirst for more knowledge

Translated by Michael Farr and released as the official book for a special exhibition at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the comic strip reporter’s first adventure. The exhibition was timed to start on 31st March 2004 in association with the Foundation Herge. The book will be a welcome title in the English language for the many Tintin fans around the world. It traces the evolution of the maritime stories involving the character Tintin and provides some interesting comparisons between photographs and the cartoons derived and adapted from them. Herge, Tintin’s creator, drew on the stories of the day and has preoccupation with accuracy and the satirical nature of the comic strips made them very popular at the time of their publication. A Tintin cult developed and has survived the death of Herge. Some of the current fascination of the stories is their time capsule nature

This book is a very balanced review of super cargo ships, including the surviving WWII Liberty Ships. This is an American perspective that covers merchant and military cargo vessels with strong North American connections. One benefit is that it includes both the unique Great Lakes cargo ships and the now preserved Savannah nuclear powered cargo vessel. A well presented work, benefiting from excellent colour photographs and concise informative text at a very affordable price

This was actually first published in 1912 – the year of her sinking. The real attraction of this book lies in the first hand accounts of those who survived the disaster. Providing that Everett recorded their accounts accurately this book provides a valuable insight into the final moments of this immortal ship before time had a chance to dim or embellish the memories of those who survived. As well as describing her maiden and only voyage Everett covers the rescue of the lifeboats by Carpathia and the subsequent American investigation